Road deaths increased by 51% over Easter weekend

Off to a bad start: Fatal accidents have increased ahead of the upcoming festive season.Picture: Supplied

Minister of Transport Joe Maswanganyi on Friday said that human factor still remains a causal factor for most of the crashes during the Easter period.

Maswanganyi said this while briefing the media in Pretoria on Friday on the preliminary Easter long weekend road crash statistics.

“Fatalities increased in all provinces, with the exception of the Free State. The Free State province saw a 27% decline in fatalities with only 8 people dying from car accidents,” said Maswanganyi.

About 20 000 traffic fines were issued for various offences at the Easter weekend, the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) said.

Driving without licences and public driving permits, speeding and overloading were among the major offences on the roads.

A total of 4605 drivers were caught for speeding, 430 for overloading goods and 1907 for driving without a drivers licence and public drivers permits. More than 18000 police officers were out on the roads during this period.

“From the cars which were stopped and checked, reports show that more 800 drivers were arrested for various offences including drunk driving, speeding and reckless and negligent driving,” RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said.

A total of 174 253 vehicles were stopped and checked with intention to remove un-roadworthy vehicles and the number of registered drivers have increased by 507 002 presenting a new total of 12 283 777.

Maswanganyi called on all citizens to exercise responsibility and help make South Africa roads safer.